I just had a thought. How about this:

Get that vacant lot on "canal corner" (the one that's over a million dollars) and build a 10 or so story warehouse wall to wall against the other warehouses on either side. Fill it with shops, galleries and eateries. A miniature mall if you will. In Dallas, the West End Marketplace is the idea i'm going for. It's cool.

To top it off (literally) have the brick tower shooting straight up out of the top of the building. That would be the anchor of Bricktown.

Side note: Could someone buy the land on canal corner AND the land across the canal from it (currently, the sloped hill) and build a building over the whole thing with room for the water taxis to pass through? That way the building could have substantially more space. It would be unique. However, it might be too big.... Just a thought.